


parenthood

by eating_custardinbed



Series: The Internet Made Me Write It [14]
Category: IT Crowd
Genre: Cats, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffy, M/M, Moss finds a cat, Non-Binary Richmond, One Shot, Roy is a grumpy sod, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's all about balance people, request, that's why he has Moss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28454943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eating_custardinbed/pseuds/eating_custardinbed
Summary: moss finds a kitten on the way to work and, well, he can't just ruddy wellleavethe poor baby on the street, now, can he?
Relationships: Maurice Moss/Roy Trenneman
Series: The Internet Made Me Write It [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990789
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	parenthood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anonymous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous/gifts).



> thank you to the lovely anon on tumblr who requested this!!! i hope you enjoy it, whoever you are!!

Moss was a cat person. 

Not that he had anything against dogs or anything, but throughout his life he had always preferred cats. Dogs jumped up at you and barked and were generally terrifying (even the little ones). Cats, on the other hand, minded their own business and got on with it. Plus, the cat that the Moss household had had when Moss was younger had demanded almost constant snuggles, something Moss was happy to oblige the old dear to. Mrs Fluffyboots was long dead now, but Moss still thought of her fondly from time to time. 

This was why he noticed the kitten. 

It was a tiny thing, barely eight weeks old by Moss' approximation. It was a beautifully fuzzy blue-grey thing, but its fur looked rather matted and damp, and on the whole the thing looked rather miserable. Its little mouth was opening and closing as if it was trying to meow but couldn't quite yet. Instead all that was coming out was a pitiful squeak. Being rather well-versed in cat development (he had become rather fascinated by it when they'd first gotten their cat when he was a child), Moss knew that this was normal but his heart still seized for it. Looking around quickly, he went forward, kneeling down and offering his hand to the kitten. 

"Hello there little one," he cooed as the kitten edged forward and cautiously sniffed his fingers. "Yeah, I'm not going to hurt you."

This seemed to reassure the kitten a little more, as it edged further out. The poor thing was shaking something rotten, all wet from the rain and clearly freezing. No, Moss knew he couldn't just ruddy well _leave_ it there, could he!? Work could wait. Roy and Jen could manage without him for an extra hour or so without him. 

Reaching forward, he scooped the kitten up. It yelped a little at him, but once it realised he was warm it immediately snuggled into him, letting out a small purr. Moss couldn't help but smile at it. "Come on, let's get you to the vet's," he murmured to it. 

***

The vet was an elderly woman. She had been running her private London veterinary practice since the 1970's and was an old friend of Moss' dad. When she had seen Moss walk through the door with this little kitten in his arms, she had cleared her schedule for long enough to see him and examine the kitten, as well as give it its required vaccinations and something to eat.

"You've got yourself a beautiful little girl here," she said admiringly as she handed the kitten back to Moss. As soon as she was back in Moss' arms the kitten, who had before been very shy and timid, began to purr again. "Flea free, a little on the skinny side but nothing too concerning. Where did you find her again?"

"In the park," Moss replied. "She was soaking wet, poor thing." 

"Well, she's not microchipped or anything..." the vet said, trailing off. "Has anyone around here reported a missing kitten?" 

Moss shook his head.

"I asked my mother, and she says nobody has. If anything goes on around here she knows about it." 

The vet laughed, nodding. 

"How are your parents?" 

"They're well, thank you." 

There was a pause and on instinct Moss looked down at the kitten, gently scratching behind her ear. She purred harder, raising his head to bump against him. 

"What are you going to do with her?" the vet asked. Moss looked up at her, a betrayed look on his face.

"Keep her, of course!" he cried indignantly. The vet held her hands up, chuckling. 

"Will your young man be okay with that?" 

"He should be," Moss said. His voice was getting quieter as he began to get distracted by the kitten again. After a few moments he snapped out of it. "Sorry." 

"It's okay," the vet said with a chuckle. Getting up, she headed over to her little store cupboard and grabbed a cat carrier as well as a few pouches of food. "You were right, she's about eight weeks old. Bring her back in three weeks for her booster injections, and you can return the carrier then." 

"Thank you," Moss said. They chatted a little more as they headed out to the front desk and Moss paid the bill (quickly and without looking at it too hard). 

"What will you call her then?" the woman on the front desk asked. Moss shrugged a little. 

"I'll have to consult with Roy on that one," he said. 

"Roy is his young man," the vet said, wiggling her eyebrows. Moss could feel his cheeks flushing as he looked down at the carrier. 

"I have to go," he said quickly. "I'm already late for work." 

They bid each other farewell, and Moss left the vet's surgery happy and with his little addition in tow. 

***

In fact, he didn't end up at work for another two hours. You see, he'd ended up in Pets At Home, and had spent an extortionate amount on cat towers and food bowls and collars and toys, as well as a decent amount of stuff he'd ordered on Amazon. One of the benefits of not going out much and having only recently moved out of his parent's house was that he had a _lot_ of money put away. It wasn't until he'd opened his phone to order said stuff off Amazon when he got into a cab that he realised that he probably should have told someone that he was going to be late. He had a lot of panicked texts from Roy, a few miscalls from Jen, and even Richmond had sent a message or two. He sent Roy a quick message, telling him that he was on his way before putting his phone away and sighing. 

"He's going to be mad at me," he said to the kitten. She squeaked back at him. "I know, I know." She squeaked again. Moss chuckled, offering her his finger through the bars of the cat carrier. She purred, butting her cheek against it. "Beautiful girl. How could anybody ever abandon you?"

Luckily it didn't take him too long to get to the office. He did get some strange looks as he walked through the lobby with a cat carrier, but over his childhood Moss had learned to tune out weird looks. He didn't risk the lift, instead walking down all the flights of stairs to get the office. 

"Where the hell have you been!?" Roy exclaimed as soon as Moss walked into the office. He was standing by the door, arms folded across his chest. 

"Sorry," Moss murmured. "I just--"

"I was worried sick!" Roy interrupted. "I didn't know where you were, I--"

Roy stopped talking here, as he'd clapped eyes on the cat carrier. He looked at Moss, down at the cat carrier, and then up at his boyfriend again. He pointed to the carrier. "What's that?"

"As I was _saying_ ," Moss replied, shooting Roy a half-hearted glare. He put the cat carrier down on his desk, opening the door up before reaching in and gently pulling out the kitten. She snuggled against him as he settled her against his chest. "I found a stray kitten on the way to work. I couldn't just leave her in the cold and the rain!"

"Her?" Roy said sceptically. 

"I took her to a vet to get her checked out," Moss explained. "She's perfectly healthy. Do you think maybe we could... keep her?" 

"Moss, I don't know," Roy said. As Moss' face dropped, Roy turned and headed back to his desk. "We can barely look after ourselves, how are we going to keep a cat alive too?" 

"Cats are easy!" Moss said. "Oh _please_ , Roy!?"

Still Roy was looking sceptical. Moss looked away to the side, pouting a little. The kitten seemed to sense his upset as she began to mewl, pressing herself closer to him. 

"Awww!" Jen said as she came out of her office. She came over to where Moss was standing, gently stroking the kitten. Moss perked up a little then, smirking at Roy. 

"Roy won't let me keep her," he told her.

"Roy!" Jen yelled. "Don't be so horrible!" 

"What's this about a cat?" Richmond asked as they emerged from behind the Red Door. Roy let out a frustrated noise, hiding his face behind his comic book. When Richmond noticed the kitten they didn't smile as such, but their eyes lit up as they came over and began to softly pet her. "Roy, you can't let Moss abandon the cat. She's attached to him now." 

It took Roy a moment, but he got up and came over to them. Shooing Jen and Richmond away, he stood right next to Moss and beckoned for the kitten. Moss handed her over gently. As he held the purring kitten that was snuggling against him, something seemed to melt in Roy. He turned to his boyfriend, a small smile on his face.

"Alright, fine," he said. Moss' face split into a grin and he reached forward, pulling Roy into a kiss. When they broke apart, he gently took the kitten back from Roy. "What are we gonna call her?" Roy asked as he moved around to look at the cat again. 

"I was thinking Ada," Moss said. Roy smiled at him. 

"After Ada Lovelace?" he asked. Moss nodded. "I think that's perfect." 

Between them, Ada purred away, safe in their arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> in case you were wondering, ava lovelace is known as the first programmer after she worked with charles babbage on his proposed mechanical general-purpose computer the analytical engine!!! :)
> 
> thankyou for reading!! please leave comments and/or kudos if you can, they make me so happy!! 
> 
> stay safe and happy, y'all xx


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